By Jamie Zimmerman & Shweta Banerjee

Notoriously resource-rich, poverty-stricken and conflict-prone, the Niger Delta region has always been viewed among the unlikeliest places for reform, particularly one that "spreads the wealth." But this week we are proud to announce that the Bayelsa State Government (BYSG) located in the delta region of Nigeria will launch of a policy pilot that provides matched savings accounts to children and youth throughout the state's eight districts. This initiative is not only the first government-supported anti-poverty intervention in the Niger Delta region, but the first state-wide CDA policy pilot in the developing world.   

From the UK to Singapore, children's savings accounts programs are gaining traction around the world.  And that's because studies have shown-- from Uganda to the United States-- that beginning savings and asset-building habits at a young age has a multitude of economic and psycho-social effects on a child.  The Global Assets Project has a hand in some of these (most recently, with our work in developing a  multi-country youth savings account pilot).  And now, it looks like Nigeria is catching on.

Behind most religious conflicts are major economic inequities. But in addition to a vulnerable population, to get a real fight you also need a charismatic ethnic entrepreneur. Unfortunately all those factors are all too present in Central Nigeria. New America fellow Eliza Griswold digs deep into this land where Muslims and Christians alternate between co-existence and massacre and pulls out lessons for all of us. From The Atlantic Monthly: